Control means for regulating feathering members



D. B. DEWEY 2,501,994 CONTROL MEANS FOR REGULATING FEATHERING MEMBERS March 28, 1950 Original FiledApril 9, 1940 .DAV/D B. DEWQ;

INVENTOR. 72 A I I ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL MEANS FO RREGULATIN G FEATHERING MEMBERS David Brainard Dewey;.Pasadena, Calif.

This invention pertains to improvements. in methods and: meansof: controlling therpi-tchoi blades and-other membersmountedtor. feathering movement upon a rotatable shaft.

In its most specific. embodiment. the. present invention is directed to means and methods whereby the pitch of fans or other bladedelements rotatably mounted uponshaits may be controlled automatically, .as for exampleby elec: trical means. Thisapplication is adivision of my application filedApril .9, 1940,. .as .SeriallNo. 328,706, now Patent N0..2,354,948.

The motors tor engines usedin .tr.ucks,gtr.actors., power shovels, passenger busses, powerplan-ts and industrial units such as .derricks, etc, are ordi .narily provldedwith a liquidcool'ing system comprising a radiator and a, pump ,for regulating the cooling liquid around the motor and then through the radiator. Fans are provided, such vfans being driven by the motor or engine, for passing cooling air through the radiator or around the cylinders for the purpose. of reducing the temperature thereoiflsuch means. being particularly designed to prevent the motor from overheating. During winter months, such cooling system will ordinarily cool the 'motorto below a desired eltective working range and additional devices, such as adjustable louvres, are ordinarily positioned around the radiator for the purposeof preventing cooling air from being sucked or blown through the-radiator when theair temperature is so low that an inordinately low temperature exists-in the cooling-liquid. It is to be-noted, however, that the fans are constantly driven as" long as-the motor is being operated. On large trucks ithas been found that a very appreciable am-ount 'oi power is consumed in driving the fan. Aitruck engine of 100 horsepower rating may,'..at topengine speed, expend '20horsepower inidrivi-ngithe fan.

In man cooling towers where largeiquantities of water are continuously cascaded over lbuvres forthe purpose: of cooling"the.. same; 'largetiam are employed for. maintaining .acircul'ation. of .Zair

through the. falling water; so. as to. facilitateevaporation. and. reduce: the temperature to. a: predetermined point:

The present inventionipermitstheamaintenance of an effective. operating pitch. 'towa'ny and all bladed elements carried upon a shaft sothat,.;f'r. r. example, in. the case of a fan: adaptedltopasszair through the cool-ingrsystem of an internal combustion motor,, the pitch, of the :fan bla'des zis automatically varied :inaccordancerwithsthegstemperature of. the... air. passing; throughsthe radiator? (Cl. HOP-4.6.0.13)

or the temperature: of the enginewvithout' the necessity of employing additional louvres, shutters; or the like. Inthe event the-presentinventionadapted to a fan blower or other device, the pitch of the blades andthe volume of air circulated thereby may be automatically con trolled and modified by means of temperature re.- sponsive' devices which actuate and move the movable elements designed to'shift or change the pitch of the blades;

An object of the present invention is to dis"- close and provide means and methods whereby the movement of members mounted upon rotatable shafts; each of said members being rotatable on an axis perpendicular to the axis of the shaft, maybe automatically and readily controlled.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide electrically operated means capable of adjusting the pitch or feathering angle of members rotatably mounted upon a shaft, in response totemperature changes.

These and other objects, uses and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in'the' artfrom the following detailed description of certain illustrative embodiments embracing the discoveries herein referred to. In order to facilitate understanding of the invention, reference will be had to the appended drawings, in' which:

The figureis a diagrammatic representation of certain elementswhich may be employed in electrically and automatically controlling the pitch of a blade in accordance with temperature changes;

The devices and improvements of this invention may be used with any hub or mount for fan or propeller blades, but preferably with a hub or mount which includes a member, movable axially of the fan shaft, axial motion of the memberabeingthen translated by suitable means into a feathering movement of the fan blades. Qne' form of such mount is shown in my prior Patent No..'2,225,209.; another modified form is shownrin another patent. The present invention,

however, isrnot limited to arrangements where bellows oi" a temperature-responsive device is mounted in. the hub (as shown in the lastmentioned patent), but instead permits the controlling'mechanism to be located wherever dee sirable, as for. example; in a stream or body of cooling waterv or cooled water (as in mechanical draft. cooling towers) and at a distance from the fan .shafttorhub. In many large installations as,

"for example, inwater cooling towers, very large 'abladedizelements are- .drivenanda: bellows :or 01th er 'a weighted element 49 constituting thermoresponsive device does not generate sufflcient power to actuate the feathering elements. The present invention therefore contemplates the use of motor drives for actuating whatever mova- 'ble element is embodied in the hub of the bladed device for changing the pitch of the blades.

The figure illustrates a form of remote control in which a motor 60, through suitable gearing contained in the gear case 6|, is capable of moving a rod 62 in a reciprocable manner. The rod 62 may be connected to an element which, by its movement, controls the pitch of the blades. The gearing in the gear case Bl may include suitable gear and pinion reduction means terminating in a pinion 41 in egagement with a rack carried by reciprocate the rod 62 may be employed. For

purposes of illustration, the rod 62 is shown extending into a hub 43 mounted for rotation upon a hollow shaft 44. Radially extending studs 45 are carried by the hub, such studs carrying the fan blades 46. Each of the studs is suitably Journaled within the hub for rotative movement along an axis perpendicular to the shaft 44 and concentrically related rod 62. The lower or inwardly extending end of each stud 45 is provided with an offset, eccentrically positioned pin 41 which extends into a circular raceway formed in the element 48 rotatably carried by the end of rod 62. Each of the studs 45 may be provided with means adapted to produce a negative torque tending to incompletely counteract the positive torque which is developed when the hub carrying the blades is rotated, such positive torque tending to rotate each of the blades into a plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotatable shaft or hub. The use of such means is clearly described in my Patent No. 2,354,948, filed April 9, 1940. When the blades are in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotatable shaft, their angle of pitch is substantially nil and a tremendous amount of power needs to be applied to whatever mechanism is provided for varying the angle of pitch of the blades in order to produce an adjustment in the pitch or feathered angle. By partially neutralizing this positive torque, as by means of the mass 49, the pitch angle is readily varied without the expenditure of much power. However, the present invention may be used with various types of blades or feathering elements.

Since the pins 41 are eccentric and extend into the raceway of member 48, axial movement of member 48 will vary the pitch of the blades 46 carried by studs 45.

The member 62 is provided with a contact arm 63 suitably mounted. A metal bellows or other thermo-responsive device 64 carries an insulating bar 65 provided with contact points 66 and 61 connected as by leads 68 and 69 to a differentialtype holding relay in supplied with current from a battery or other source of energy. The movable switch arms H and 112 of this neutral position, double acting differential relay are connected to a source of electrical energy and are adapted to selectively close circuits causing the motor til to either run in one direction or another. For example, in the event the metal bellows 64 is subjected to increasing temperatures, it will expand and cause the contact 66 to move toward and engage contact 63, thereby closing a circuit through line at to the relay 10. The switch arms H and 12 will then move so as to close the circuit motor to be so operated as to move the rod 62 in the direction of the arrow. As soon as there is any movement in the rod 62, contact between 63 and 66 will be broken but since relay is of a predetermined holding type, the motor will continue to operate for a predetermined period, say 1, 3 or 5 seconds. The holding time should not be sufficient to cause the contact 63 to be moved into electrical engagement with the contact 61, how- After the expiration of this predetermined holding time, the switch arms H and 12 will assume their normal neutral position. If, however, the temperature continues to increase, the metal bellows 64 will again cause the closure of contact between 66 and 63 and the operation hereinabove described is repeated. The thermoresponsive device 64 may be of any desired type, but in the drawing is shown as a metallic sealed bellows which may be filled with a suitable liquid having desired expansion characteristics with temperature changes.

In this manner, the pitch of the blades may be progressively increased in increments. When temperature begins to drop, a progressive decrease in pitch is attained since closure of the circuit between 63 and 61 will energize the holding relay 10 through line 69 and cause the switch arms H and 12 to close the circuit from the source of power to the motor by lines 14 and 15.

Many Diesel powered and even gasoline powered trucks are at present so arranged that when the truck is running along level ground, the motor will over-cool even though the fan is removed. For this reason, it has been found desirable to associate the mechanism described herein with a shutter control. Adjustable shutters or louvres are often used on trucks, busses and other vehicles for the purpose of preventing large volumes of air from passing through the radiator when the air temperature is low. Such shutters may be actuated by a thermoresponsive device as, for example, the bellows 64, or the like. In this manner the shutters may be maintained in closed position whenever the fan blades are in feathering position and the shutter could be progressively opened as the pitch of the fan blades is increased. Simultaneous control by both the shutter and the fan is conducive to most efficient operation.

It is to be understood that numerous other arrangements may be employed in automatically controlling the position of any adjustable members carried by a rotating shaft and that the examples herein given are simply illustrative of methods whereby the position of the movable elements may be either changed progressively or wholly.

All changes and modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. Means for controlling the pitch of blades mounted for feathering movement upon. a rotatable shaft comprising, in combination with a movjable member operably associated with such rotat- 'a forward drive circuit for the motor, a reverse drive circuit for the motor, and a control circuit for alternatively energizing either of the drive circuits, said control circuit including switch means actuated by a temperature responsive de- 'with lines 13 and 14 respectively, causing the .I5 ,vic'e for closing the control circuit and a holding relay, said relay opening the drive a predetermined length of time.

2. Means for controlling the pitch of blades mounted for feathering movement upon a rotatable shaft comprising, in combination with a movable member operably associated with such rotatable shaft for regulatably adjusting the pitch angle of such blades: an electric motor operably connected to drive said movable member, said operable connection including a reduction gearing, a forward drive circuit for the motor, a reverse drive circuit for the motor, a control circuit for alternatively energizing either of the drive circuits, said control circuit including switch means actuated by a temperature responsive device for closing the control circuit, a holding relay, said relay opening the drive circuits after a predetermined length of time, and means for opening the control circuit.

3. Means for controlling the pitch of blades mounted for feathering movement upon a rotatable shaft comprising, in combination with a movable member operably associated with such rotatable shaft for regulatably adjusting the pitch angle of such blades: an electric motor operably connected to drive said movable member, said operable connection including a reduction gearing, a forward drive circuit for the motor, a reverse drive circuit for the motor, a control circuit for alternatively energizing either of the drive circuits, said control circuit including switch means actuated by a temperature responsive device for closing the control circuit and a holding relay, said relay opening the drive circuits after a predetermined length of time, and means driven by the motor for opening the control circuit.

4. Means for controlling the pitch of blades mounted for feathering movement upon a rotatable shaft, comprising, in combination with a movable member operably associated with such rotatable shaft for regulatably adjusting the pitch angle of such blades: an electric motor operably connected to drive said movable member, said operable connection including a reduction gearcircuits after ing, a forward drive circuit for the motor, a reverse drive circuit for the motor, a control circuit for alternatively energizing either of the drive circuits, said control circuit including switch means actuated by a temperature responsive device for closing the control circuit and a holding relay, said relay opening the drive circuits after a predetermined length of time, and means driven by the motor for opening the control circuit.

DAVID BRAINARD DEWEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,327,381 Furber Jan. 6, 1920 1,793,653 Turnbull Feb. 24, 1931 1,810,159 Carol June 16, 1931 1,830,858 Schoepp et a1 Nov. 10, 1931 1,900,586 Rippe Mar. 7, 1933 1,978,788 Fergason Oct. 30, 1934 2,020,366 MacCallum Nov. 12, 1935 2,076,616 Clarridge Apr. 13, 1937 2,081,762 Nissen May 25, 1937 2,128,983 Blanchard Sept. 6, 1938 2,189,888 Endsley Feb. 13, 1940 2,195,036 Palmer Mar. 26, 1940 2,195,697 Ellis Apr. 2, 1940 2,225,209 Dewey Dec. 17, 1940 2,228,776 Mullen Jan. 14, 1941 2,232,753 Wilson Feb. 25, 1941 2,287,297 Dewey June 23, 1942 2,316,940 Dewey et al Apr. 20, 1943 2,346,007 Chillson Apr. 4, 1944 2,347,153 Hagen et al Apr. 18, 1944 2,354,948 Dewey Aug. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 475,329 Great Britain Nov. 17, 1937 538,182 Great Britain July 24, 1941 549,591 Great Britain Nov. 27, 1942 

